Monday, November 7, 2011

1961 Douglas DC-8-43, c/n 45622/137, CF-CPI, “604”, Empress of Amsterdam, Canadian Pacific Air Lines, Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada; powered by four 17,625-lbs thrust Rolls-Royce RCo.12 Conway Mk. 509 low-bypass turbofan engines; crew of three (pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer), seven flight attendants, seating configuration 132 passengers (dual F/Y class cabin), intercontinental narrow-body airliner; built by Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California, USA; completed onApril 26, 1961; delivered to Canadian Pacific Air Lines on May 20, 1961; named Empress of Calgary in May 1961; renamed Empress of Amsterdam in 1968; transferred to CP Air on April 1, 1969; re-registered as C-FCPI on January 1, 1974; sold to F.B. Ayer & Associates Inc., New York, New York, USA on November 16, 1980; the Empress of Amsterdam spent 19 years with Canadian Pacific Air Lines/CP Air before being stored, to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department in December 1982, and scrapped at Opa-locka Airport (OPF), Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA in 1988.

This was still the old terminal, what is now the South Terminal with most of the original building still existing, albeit minus the control tower and the outside observation deck. I recall looking into the distance across the tarmac to the new terminal being built to the north, nearing completion. It was sunny with some high clouds.

We had two stops en route, served with refreshments to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, then Edmonton, Alberta, followed by dinner and breakfast, arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Luchthaven Schiphol) (AMS), Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands the following morning. We rented a baby blue Renault 16 in Amsterdam and drove through the Netherlands, West Germany, and Switzerland, visiting friends and relatives. I have no record of which DC-8 we returned on, but it was Flight 381, departing Amsterdam-Schiphol on Tuesday, September 3, 1968. We had two stops en route, served with lunch and dinner to Edmonton, then Calgary, followed by refreshments to Vancouver.

Around the globe we fly

“Once you go Mac, you’ll never go back”

Accuracy disclaimer

Aircraft identities, specifications, and histories in this blog are gathered from my notes taken in the field during photographs, from a variety of books, and from websites accessible to anyone patient and diligent enough to pursue research, compare and reconcile diverse and sometimes contradictory sources, trusting instincts, and generally unearthing the thinnest of threads, hints, and clues, as I have done. On occasion my work may contain errors. As this is an amateur blog, please do not rely on the information for any technical or legal accuracy. Information in this blog is subject to confirmation from other sources by the reader and/or the researcher. Aircraft registration history and owner information is generally taken from CCAR (Canadian Civil Aircraft Register) and FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) records including information and data published and/or otherwise made available by the CCAR and the FAA and/or other official national aircraft registries, and is accessible to the public.